Field
The present disclosure relates, in general, to a vehicle headlamp system and a method of controlling the same, and more particularly, to a vehicle headlamp system providing glare-free high beams, and a method of controlling the same.
Description
In general, headlamps disposed in a vehicle are intended to provide forward illumination to a driver. Headlamps are designed to selectively operate to emit light in a low beam setting or in a high beam setting.
A low beam setting is mainly used when an oncoming vehicle is in the opposite lane in order not to obstruct the view of an oncoming driver, while a high beam setting is used to provide a clearer forward view to a driver when no oncoming vehicle is present in the opposite lane.
When a driver manually alternates a low beam setting and a high beam setting while driving a vehicle, it may be difficult for the driver to safely drive the vehicle. To prevent this problem, glare-free high beam technology has been developed to constantly provide high beams without glare to a driver in an oncoming vehicle in the opposite lane or a driver in a preceding vehicle. Such glare-free high beam technology includes high beam assistance (HBA) technology and adaptive driving beam (ADB) technology, which are key solutions for intelligent headlamps.
To realize glare-free high beam technology, a glare-free area (GFA) for oncoming and preceding vehicles must be accurately defined. However, regarding the characteristics of camera image processing, based on head and rear light sources within an angle of view during night driving, it may be difficult to prevent glare to a vehicle appearing from an area outside of the angle of view.
FIG. 1 is an image illustrating a case in which a passing vehicle is present.
Currently, HBA and ADB, i.e. key solutions for intelligent headlamps, are driven using an image processing algorithm by obtaining an image captured using a forward-facing camera. However, vehicle recognition principles of such solutions are based on the recognition of head and rear light sources during night driving.
In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 1, when a preceding vehicle P1 is present to the side and rear, the body of the preceding vehicle P1 is initially exposed and then rear light sources are exposed. Consequently, regardless of the response speed, it is impossible to prevent glare to a vehicle in front or an oncoming vehicle using a camera sensor, which is problematic.
In addition, in accordance with luminous distribution regulations as represented in the following table, it is required to accurately form a glare-free area (GFA) for glare-free high beam technology. However, in the case of depending on the forward-facing camera, a beam may temporarily glare to oncoming and preceding drivers in a corresponding area, in accordance with the characteristics of the system depending on position information transmitted by the camera.
TABLEPosition/deg.Max. IntensityTest PointHorizontalVertical(cd)(lx)Line 14.8° L to 2° L0.57° Up4400.7Oncoming Vehicle at50 mLine 22.4° L to 1° L0.3° Up13002.0Oncoming Vehicle at100 mLine 31.2° L to 0.5° L0.14° Up38006.0Oncoming Vehicle at200 mLine 41.7° L to 1.7° L0.3° Up13202.1Preceding Vehicle at50 mLine 50.9° L to 0.9° L0.14° Up39006.2Preceding Vehicle at100 mLine 60.45° L to 0.45° L0.1° Up1140018Preceding Vehicle at200 m
In this case, luminous intensity is about 10 lux at 100 m to the front, which is about 20 times a legal reference level for glare, i.e. 0.5 lux.
Accordingly, a solution for controlling headlamps by predicting a vehicle appearing from an area outside of the angle of view of a driver's vehicle is demanded in order to prevent glare to the appearing vehicle.